Esteban Ocon was left to rue his wretched luck in Baku on Friday, after narrowly missing out on a Q3 appearance for the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to a yellow flag forcing an abortion of his final flying lap.
The Frenchman has arrived in Baku under a continuous cloud of speculation regarding his future with Haas, admitting he is, at present, a “free agent” going into 2027.
Looking to make good on upgrades which have appeared to improve the American squad’s VF-26 challenger, Ocon was looking on good form, and readily able to make the final part of qualifying.
But a yellow flag towards the end of Q2 put paid to his chances of a season-best grid slot, and vented his frustration to media afterwards.
“Unbelievable. You know, we were on for a Q3 lap,” he said. “[The] Car was working well. We don’t have many chances like this when the car’s working well. It hasn’t been working throughout the whole season. We improved things, but we had a Q3 car today.”
“And the yellow flag, basically. I got a gust of wind the lap before, but I was on for a Q3 lap as well. And then I did the same lap time, again, arriving to Turn 15. And I don’t know who went off, but I had to back off on the exit to make sure that I was not gonna get any penalty.
“And yeah. I mean, I did exactly the same lap time. So, yeah, I lost, what, three, four tenths? With that, unbelievable. You know? I just have no words.”
Esteban Ocon fed-up with ‘always something going on’
Ocon, alluding to the seemingly never-ending stream of rumours about his F1 future, added that it feels to be one thing or another preventing his progress from race to race.
“It’s a different race weekend, same shit, you know,” he concluded. “There’s always something going on, on my side, if it’s either the car, if it’s something else.
“My yellow flag, Safety Cars, whatever, but I don’t deserve all the s**t that I have on my back at the moment, so, I don’t know. I might need to take a good shower.”
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